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2 Kings 13 · a question people ask

Who was the savior the LORD gave Israel in 13:5?

In the text

The chapter doesn't name him. It says only, "The LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians" (13:5), and it doesn't say when this happened. Later in the chapter Jehoahaz's son "took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war" (13:25). The next chapter says of the LORD, "he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash" (14:27), with the verb of which savior is a form (tap savior). Both verses are set beside 13:5 here; the text itself leaves the savior unnamed.

The verses

“(The LORD gave Israel a savior, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel lived in their tents as before.”
2 Kings 13:5 · World English Bible
“Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Joash struck him three times, and recovered the cities of Israel.”
2 Kings 13:25 · World English Bible
“The LORD didn’t say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under the sky; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam the son of Joash.”
2 Kings 14:27 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 2 Kings 13

2 Kings 13: The arrow of victory

In the chapter where Elisha dies, a dead man thrown into his tomb stands up (13:21), and the LORD, whose people "didn’t depart" from Jeroboam's sins (13:6), still would not cast them off, "because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (13:23).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions